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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Makarandgad Trek

Couple of weeks back, I visited the Fort Makarandgad.

We started the journey at 5.30 am from Pune. We were five guys in SUV so we had comfortable journey out from city. We preferred to bypass katraj ghat as ghat is shorter road and filled with morning rush of truck drivers struggling to push their vehicles in 30 degree slop.
By around 8am, we were near Nasarapur. Took a breakfast break at famous tappari hotel called "Shiram" . It was nice place to eat wada paav, misal and poha. We billed around 170/- for 5 guys. Place is pretty much crowded morning commuters. We left the place after our tummies filled up and couple of guys also attended morning nature's call.

We moved fast since then to reach Hatlot village on time. We managed to reach at Hatlot by 10.30 am. Got the place to park vehicle near village school. Village have good road and on daily basis only 2 buses visit the village and that's only to pick of students for school/college. Well, this also means that State Transport bus do NOT visit the village on Sunday so make sure you have transport before you plan your trek to this great fort.

There is small foot path from base village Hatlot. Feel free to ask villagers about path if you are not sure.

Things to carry:

raincoat / rain hat if visiting in rainy season

Salt - NaCl This is good anti-agent for Leeches. Jungle is fully blood sucking Leeches. They are active after seeing heat around. It hard to notice them. Don't keep exposed body. Carry at least 100 gram of it.

Full body covered cloths

Water bottles

Food item - Biscuits, light food, glucose. You may not get anything in Small village on top

Pair of cloths.

Good Trekking Shoes

Medicines if you have any known medical problem

Knee caps if issue with knee pain.

Jungle is said to have Raan dukkars who tend to attack people. Keep making noise as you move. Always, keep moving as leeches will catch your feet if you stop for break.

Enjoy the view to village and small temple while on climbing the route. There are couple small plateaus where you can take stop for rest and allow team to move together.

There is nice sweet water pond on fort where you can fill up your water storage. Ghonaspur is small village have bare electricity supply and seasonal connectivity by road in summer. You can find families who can provide lunch for a day. Enjoy the route, time and natural beauty.